ABSTRACT
Ethics in the field of counseling are guided by fundamental principles, ethical codes, and best practice models. Counselors regularly consult with other professional peers and experienced supervisors regarding best ethical practice. Given that a counselor’s development demands a mastery of ethical decision-making, mentoring plays a natural and essential role in the overall development of all future counselors. Therefore, it is essential that future counselors develop an in-depth understanding of how their values, biases, virtues, and culture impact the ethical decision-making process. This chapter focuses on expanding ethical paradigms for purposes of informing discussion and enhancing practitioner and counselor educator perspectives of and for aspirational ethics as a means to encouraging, committing to, and working for maximal ethical behavior. The authors note a conflation of ethics and law and the significance of following the guiding ethical principles in ethical standards for counselors. Given the extensive and highly definitive nature of state counseling laws and rules, the authors advocate returning to core virtues in ethical standards and greater emphasis on aspirational ethics.
